Who said the Christmas sweaters were cheesy?They come back in force in stores

Christmas - Christmas Jumpers, formerly bulky Christmas sweaters knitted by a benevolent grandmother, are reborn in a new light in the United Kingdom, which has become trendy and proudly worn at the time of the holiday season.That it seems distant the cheesy image of the Christmas sweater, immortalized by that carried by the actor Colin Firth in the film "Le Journal by Bridget Jones", adorned with Rudolphe, the reindeer with a red nose, on a green fir background.

"This knitted gift, formerly the prerogative of grandfathers and presenters of (children's program) Blue Peter, is skyrocketing on the cool scale this season," notes the British clothing channel Debenhams, which recordeda 200% leap of its sales.In ASDA supermarkets, sales also took off compared to last year, with an increase of 160%.

In front of such a thirst for Christmas sweaters, the group of vintage clothing stores Beyond Retro decided to open a temporary shop devoted to Christmas Jumpers, in the London district trendy from Old Street for the first time."It is no longer only the hipsters who wear them, everyone is getting into it, from office workers to families," explains Ashley Emerson, in charge of development at Beyond Retro.

Acrylic, cashmere and alpaca wool

Qui a dit que les pulls de Noël étaient ringards? Ils reviennent en force dans les magasins

"We are all going to put a Christmas Jumper" on Christmas Day, confirms Louisa Tomlenson, 33 -year -old housewife, who has just bought one and says she has managed to convince her husband to wear such a."It's pretty cool now to do it.There are everywhere, in many shops, "she notes.

If it is always possible to find cheap, 100% acrylic christmas, there are now some that easily exceed 250 euros, made of cashmere or alpaca wool.

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The quest for the most crazy Christmas sweater

Surfing on this trend, the British NGO Save the Children has launched since 2012 a "Christmas Jumpers Day", fixed on December 12, inviting the carriers of sweaters to give or to lift some money that day.In the metro, the offices, the Londoners, quick to enter "the Christmas spirit", play the game, proudly sporting red, cream or green sweaters, decorated with bells, Santa Claus or penguins.

"Last year, we had the chance to collect 1.5 million pounds, with the participation of more than a million people.We hope to double (the bet) this year, "explains Tanka Steele, Director of Funding of Save The Children."Christmas Jumpers are part of British psychology and Christmas for decades," she recalls, highlighting the intermingling of factors at work in the acquisition of their new trendy status.

Their traditional side goes well with the invasion of Scandinavian fashion, the taste for vintage, the habit of organizing Christmas holidays with colleagues and friends throughout the month of December as well as with English humormade of a very calculated self -mockery."The English are good to be a little different and have their own cheesy or personal look," admits Louisa Tomlenson.

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"It's kitsch, it's nunuche but because these are the end of year celebrations, people are more inclined to participate in this kind of thing, especially for office holidays and evenings", underlines Nicky Burgess, a 31 -year -old lawyer who has also acquired one of these sweaters.

There is no question of the Christmas Jumpers lose their kitsch side.This year, those with three -dimensional elements - a nose of Rudolphe, a Santa Claus beard or even bells - are particularly sought after."Before people said to themselves 'I could never wear that' but this year everyone comes saying 'I want your craziest sweater'," laughs Ashley Emerson of Beyond Retro, hoping that it does notnot just a temporary craze.

In France also the "Christmas Jumpers" have made a fashion breakthrough, the proof:

10 Christmas sweaters

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Sandra Lorenzo

Journalist responsible for the Life section, the HuffPost